House of cardinals: Next Pope needs to understand who Canada’s Catholics are

As shrouded in mystery as this week’s papal conclave is, it pales in comparison to the inscrutable modern Catholic – one who, according to the latest national surveys, is at once fiercely loyal to the faith as a brand but largely absent from its churches’ pews.

Although some 14 million Canadians identify as Catholic, just 28 per cent of them attended monthly-plus services in 2010, while a scant 18 per cent turned up weekly. Even Catholics’ social attitudes appear to be in flux, with poll data showing increasing approval of premarital sex, divorce, sex education, same-sex relationships and even abortion in some cases.

Reginald Bibby, a leading Canadian expert on religious trends, says the new Pope’s challenge will be to build a bridge between where the Church is at and where its people are.

Source: Reginald Bibby

“We’ve got all these latent Catholics,” said Bibby, a professor of sociology at the University of Lethbridge. “They’re showing up for the occasional seasonal service, and when they want rites of passage they’ll look to the Church, but beyond that most don’t have any great inclination to be involved.”

Heading into the first conclave vote Tuesday, one of the biggest buzz-terms has been the “new evangelization,” which basically translates to reinvigorating the ranks. The new Pope will be expected to be a pitchman of sorts who can reach out to lapsed Catholics and renew their interest.

The outlook is good: polling shows that among Canadian Catholics who attend church less than once a month, 62 per cent of adults and 40 per cent of teenagers are receptive to greater involvement, “if they can find it to be worthwhile.”

“Something as dramatic as the next Pope coming from Quebec could have a real impact,” said Bibby, though he cautions that it’s “silly and naïve” to assume that alone will put people back in the pews. “At the end of the day, the thing that will make people want to be more involved in their churches is, frankly, good ministry.”

In terms of social attitudes, today’s Catholic is much more liberal than doctrine would suggest. Bibby’s research shows abortion is accepted by the majority if a mother’s health is endangered or there’s a strong chance of birth defect; contraception information for teens who request it is supported by more than nine in 10 members; premarital sex by eight in 10; and same-sex marriage is accepted by seven in 10.

“These people continue to think they’re Catholic but large numbers don’t buy into the teachings of the Church,” said Bibby, author of Beyond the Gods & Back. “The time has come to encourage leaders to accelerate the communication with all these people who are feeling alienated when it comes to things like gay marriage and divorce and contraception.”

The good news is that Catholicism is looking at unprecedented global growth, which in Canada is expected to be fuelled by the immigration pipeline. And in terms of brand loyalty, the numbers don’t get much better: polling shows more than 90 per cent of Catholics – including an astounding 97 per cent of Quebecers who attend church less than once a week – aren’t open to switching to another religious group.

Ergo, Bibby says Catholicism’s guiding agenda in the coming years will be about “reaching out to their own.”

And who are they in Canada? According to the 2010 General Social Survey from Statistics Canada, the faith skews slightly female (52 per cent), while the average age is 38: four per cent are 15 to 17 years old; 25 per cent are 18 to 34; 37 per cent are 35 to 54; and 34 per cent are 55-plus.

The country’s highest concentration of Catholicism is in Quebec (46 per cent of all Catholics reside there), followed by Ontario (30), the Prairies (11), Atlantic Canada (7) and B.C. (6). Fully a quarter were born outside Canada.

Misty Harris is a nationally recognized journalist known for her stories on social science, consumer trends, demographics, academic studies, and marketing. For more than a decade, her articles have been... read more featured on the front pages of Canada’s top newspapers, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Vancouver Sun, Victoria Times-Colonist, Montreal Gazette, The Province, The Leader-Post, The Star-Phoenix, The Windsor Star, and Ottawa Citizen, in addition to such online news hubs as Canada.com.
Harris has been honoured by the Society for Features Journalism; appeared as a pop culture commentator on CTV, Global News and BBC World Service; reported on fashion, health and lifestyle issues for Flare magazine; and spoken as a guest lecturer at universities in Canada and the U.S.
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